The present invention relates generally to the field of navigation systems, and more particularly to determining three-dimensional rotational position in real time.
Navigation systems are generally any combination of systems or devices that are capable of determining an objects current location (relative to another fixed location) and/or rotational position (relative to a reference, non-rotating orientation). This information is highly useful for objects such as, but not limited to aircraft and watercraft (e.g., airplanes, helicopters, ships and submarines) to enable the internal guidance systems to make the necessary adjustments to stay on course to the target destination. Navigation systems are also becoming ubiquitous in many modern electronic and computing devices as well, such as cell phones, tablets and even video game controllers. One very common type of navigation device is a gyroscope, which most generally is a device that will seek to maintain its orientation at all times regardless of how the object that contains it is moving or rotating. Having the constant orientation of the gyroscope as a reference is a practical way of determining the three-dimensional rotational position (that is, x, y and z coordinates for roll, pitch and yaw, respectively) of the object that contains it at any given point in time.